Jay Biggerstaff-Imagn Images
Some of soccer’s greatest coaches also happen to be excellent storytellers. What they say, and the way they say it, leaves an impact. They are capable of creating narratives, or rewriting old ones to suit their ends. They can make their message clear to a group of players, have that message filter down throughout their way of training, and ultimately their way of playing.
Fundamentally it’s possessing a clear plan of action, then being able to implement. Many coaches fall at that first hurdle, and consequently spend weeks, months, years trying simply to find the thread. This has not been an issue for 2024 National Women’s Soccer League Coach of the Year Seb Hines. There are no head-scratching monologues with Hines. Last year, as he prepared Orlando Pride for a Shield-and Championship-winning season, his message was simple: Start well, and they could win trophies.
“The start is important,” Hines told the press during the 2024 preseason. “We’ve made that very clear to the players.”
He was referring to the way Orlando started the previous campaign, with four straight losses. They finished in seventh place in 2023, missing the playoffs on goal difference to NJ/NY Gotham, and watched on, gutted, as Gotham won the Championship. When 2024 rolled around, there was a clear focus on avoiding the same mistake.
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